By Jesse Fries
In a state where tobacco is still king, we have seen another step toward keeping big tobacco happy.
There seems to be another story playing out in our General Assembly. With talks about cutting funding for higher education, legislators are also debating raising the cigarette tax.
A debate alone is a sickening. Kentucky ranks No. 46 in cigarette taxes, charging roughly 30 cents per pack, while New Jersey, ranked number one, charges around $2.50 per pack.
Without a substantial increase in the cigarette tax and state revenues, the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship program will also fall victim to budget cuts. According to the Lexington Herald- Leader, Beshear’s 2008-2010 budget calls for a $13.1 million cut the first year, with a $1 million cut the next. By 2010 this will result in a 15.8 percent reduction in the vital program.
Talking to many local students I received essentially the same answer. Without KEES money, they will have to take out loans, or transfer to other institutions. From my own personal experience KEES money kept me in state by lessening the burden on me financially.
Many universities have also railed against the cuts, feeling that they will not only lose talented in-state students, but also that the substantial tuition increases places an unfair burden on students.
Murray State University, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader expects to have to increase tuition by 10-26 percent, depending on other cuts and funding. This would hurt enrollment at a university routinely listed on national “Best Bang for Your Buck” lists. Western Kentucky University expects to have to raise their tuition 20 percent if they don’t cut research funding and salaries.
Beshear came into office on a platform of keeping Kentucky strong. This included his pledges to keep funding higher education, and keep talented Kentuckians in the state. What becomes ever more apparent is that these were lies. Beshear has one interest and one only, instituting casino gambling in the state of Kentucky.
What’s more important, funding our universities, and keeping talented students in the state with a strong scholarship program, or keeping smokers and big tobacco happy? The answer should be a simple one, but with a crooked, special-interest driven governor it is tough to see education beating out an industry that has owned our state for generations.
